Monday, January 27, 2014

A New Scissors Keep Pattern

At the beginning of January, our monthly Across The Pond Sew Along project was announced... Scissors Keepers.Amanda, The Patchsmith, had time to whip up two pretty and practical scissor keepers , in her perfect Patchsmith style and colors. Aren't those flowers so cute!

There are some more beautiful scissor keepers that are posted in our ATPSA Flickr Group. (Hop on over to see the beautiful Heart Scissors keeper, and the darling linen and embroidery keeper! )After looking around at all of the different ways to keep scissors, I was inspired to make my own little pouch. This little "Mini Keeper" attaches quickly to my sewing machine, to hold scissors ,a seam ripper, little screwdrivers , little rulers, etc.

Take your
measuring tape and place it around your machine, in the same way you will be placing
the straps for your pouch.

See in the photo above- your pouch will be about 8 inches cross. So, 22
inches will be long enough for the strap on this machine : the straps are sewn
into the left and right sides of this “keeper” pouch. You can adjust the length later, before you sew the straps into the pouch
sides.

Cut fabrics:

Cut out
: 1 main fabric 9” x 7 “

1 lining fabric 9” x 7 “

1-Batting or fusible fleece 9 “ x 7
“ .
This is ironed (or basted) to the back side of outer main fabric. * I
often use up my scraps of FF987 in this way.*

Lay lining fabric right side up. Place main outer fabric right side down on
top of lining. (Right sides together.)

Pin together, leaving a 2 ½ “
gap for turning.

Sew around all 4
sides, using a ¼ “ seam allowance.
Remember to leave the 2 ½”
opening.

Trim the excess
fabric away from the corners.

Turn the
fabric…. that is, pull the main outer fabric out through the gap you left. Carefully
push out the corners and sides.
Press with an iron , and turn under the
gap opening , so it will be sewn into the
seam later.

Put aside
the pouch piece for now.

Make the straps:

Fold each
short end in ¼ “ and iron. (This creates
finished ends.)

Create the
long center crease by folding the strap fabric, wrong sides together, and
ironing the fold. (The piece will be 22
“ x 1 ½ “ now.)

Open up, and
then fold the top half in so the raw
edge meets the newly created center crease. Iron
well. Repeat this for the bottom half
of the strip. The raw edges are now
meeting at that center crease . (Strip is 1 ½” at this point.) Lastly,
fold the halves together so that the folded edges meet , making the strip a final ¾
“. Press well and pin. { There are no raw edges at this point.}

Sew along
all 4 edges with a 1/8” seam allowance.
Do not cut strap yet!

Place your
measuring tape around your machine, so you can measure how long to make each
strap. I want my straps to meet in the
back, so the short strap needs to be 4 ½ “.
The long strap is about 17 “.

Cut the strap at 4 ½ “ from the left edge. The remaining strap is about 17 “.

Note:
the Velcro is 2 inches long,
so there will be some “ give and take” for attaching it behind your
machine. It is not meant to be a “skin
tight” fit.

Figure 2 A short and long strap

Sew the straps into the pouch:

Take the
pouch fabric, and fold it in half, with the lining fabric on the inside. The
fold will now be at the bottom and it
will measure 8 ½ ” x 3 ½ “.

Pin the sides together, after inserting one
strap into each side. Each strap should
be placed about 1 inch from the top edge
of the pouch .

Sew each 3
½” side together with a ¼” seam allowance.
Reinforce your stitches at the
beginning and end. Hint: I often start at the bottom edge (the folded edge) , and sew up towards
the top. It is easier to finish up on the
thicker edge.

Now we are ready to add the Velcro to the ends of the straps.

Position your Mini Keeper on your sewing
machine:

It is very helpful to place your pouch where you want it
to be positioned on your sewing machine.
You will probably want your “mini keeper” to be at a spot that is not on
top of your power cord or on/off switch. It will be most likely be long enough to fit
around the front corner of your machine.

Pin the ends of the straps
together on the back side of your
machine. Make
it fit to your own personal preference. This
will show you where you need to sew the Velcro
pieces on. Place
pins so you know where to center each Velcro strip. There will be some “give and take” since the Velcro is 2 inches long. This is a ’ relaxed fit .’

Figure 3
This is the way you will want it to connect at
the back side of your sewing machine.

Pin the Velcro onto each strap.

One
piece of Velcro is pinned to the top
side of the strap ( the short piece.)
And the other piece of Velcro is pinned to the bottom side of the other strap ( the longer strap.) Double check this before sewing!

Important details in this next picture :

Worth saying again:Add one piece of the Velcro to the TOP side of
the short strap.

Add
the other piece of Velcro to the BOTTOM side of the long strap.

Sew the Velcro to the short
strap. (The top side ) I shorten my stitch length to 2.0, and go
around all four sides twice. (Probably overkill!)

Next sew the other piece of
Velcro to the long strap (the bottom side) in the same manner.

Figure 4
Sewing the velcro on to the strap

We are almost done now!

If you would like to make
sections in the pouch, you can sew a seam down the front of the pouch to make
pocket sections. I made 2 pockets in my
mini keeper, by sewing one seam down the center of the pouch. You could create a narrow pocket, too, for
your seam ripper.

This Mini Keeper can "keep" a lot of sewing tools!

Position
your “Mini Keeper” at your sewing machine, and adjust the straps so they will
connect with the Velcro at the back.

The back of my Viking sewing machine.

Side and front view of my Viking machine

My Viking
sewing machine is ready to go now… with my tools right at my fingertips!

I made a second Mini Keeper for my other machine, the Baby Lock Creative Pro. (I didn't want her to get jealous!)

Oh my - what a clever idea and so handy to have it right there by the side of your machine. I love how your mini keeper co-ordinates with your skinny pincushion. I'm gonna make me one of these with some red gingham hearts added.

I love your scissors keeper! You did a nice project and a beautiful tutorial. I don't understand how it works this challenge, but I'm interested! I went to visit the Flickr group "Sew Along Across the Pond" and I joined the group. I visited the blog The Patchsmith and I really like! When new projects come out?Thanks for the tutorial, it is a good idea and above all practical!Marisa from http://passionetcouture.blogspot.ca/

A new project comes out the first of every month, in our blogs. You can find it also in the Discussions / Topics section in the Flickr group, too. So glad you are joining... can't wait to see what you will sew with us!

Eeeek! Susie, I've just seen your tutorial for your sewing machine mini keeper ..... it is sooooo on my list to make! Can't understand how I hadn't thought of something like this, except I have always used my tiny travel kits for all my odds and ends. I've only recently started quilting and now have more gadgets I need to hand at the machine! So pleased to meet you, and thank you for sharing your tutorial!Barbara xx

About Me

I began sewing a few years ago, and fell in love with making bags and purses. I love to learn from the wonderful blogs and tutorials that are out there. I'll share my experiences and projects , and make some friends along the way!